ýAnd then ?ý Sangita asked unwillingly to the women at the other end of the phone line.

She continued, ýthen I found Raja a job at a Dunkin Donut shop through a friend of mine and he was paid under the table since he did not have any legal paper work to work in US. That night, after the work he came to my apartment with a bouquet of rose and wanted to thank me for finding him a work. I asked him to come into my apartment possibly for a drink. He wanted something hard like ýWhiskyý. Since I did not have any whiskey or Vodka with me he went out to get a bottle and came back with one. He single handedly finished a liter of Whisky himself while I had couple of sips. He could not even walk properly after ward so I asked him to stay back and offered him my room and I went to sleep on the sofa. After a while, he put on the lights of my room and came to the living room. He started telling me his stories, basically his past. How his father was connected to the politicians and got the chance to get into the medical school. He somehow managed to pass the exams and with the help of a friend of his father, managed to get the US tourist visa and landed here. For some time, he tried to study for the USMLE but later gave up and started working in a restaurant where I met him. I used to wait tables at the same restaurant where Raja did the dishwashing. We got closer and hung out frequently. I found him extremely nice, unlike the most of the Americans who thought I was too heavy, and did not appreciate my bodily figures at all. Later on with a fight with the manager he was fired from the restaurant and had to go without any earnings for a while. Thatýs when I found Raja a jobý

ýWhy the hell you wanted to tell me all these? I donýt even know you and why should I trust your story?ý but I decided to keep quiet and keep listening to her.

ýThat night I asked him to go to the bed and sleep. He refused. Instead, he started saying that there was only me who cared in his whole mean world. He started hugging me. He kissed me. He ran his hands all over me. I actually enjoyed his touches and I did not refute at all. Later that night we ended up making love. The love making thing then became regular, yeah very regular. I knew with Raja, there were no emotions involved for me. For him it was just the sex, I was just a medium to fulfill his lust and desires. But I was falling in love with him. He looked good every day. I began to love him more and more. I liked what ever he said and what ever he did. As the days passed by, I could sense him getting irritated with small matters and the fear that revolved around his head impaired his decisions. He was not being able to work properly. He was out of his legal status as his visa expired. He decided to over stay as an illegal as he did not dare to go back to Nepal for he feared that his status/reputation was at stake. He felt his return from the US without any significant achievement might hurt his ego. That was when I started looking for some kind of help for him. I did, in fact, found out a way and told him that we could get married (me being an American and he could get the fiancý visa), at least in paper and save him from being illegal. He agreed to do so without any hesitation. We went to Las Vegas and got married in a churchý.

ýWe stayed together like married couple. We shared bed, bath, rent, grocery, tax returns and bills. I occasionally answered calls from INS. I was glad I was with a man, I liked but I also knew the man I was with, was not with me emotionally. I did not mind that at all, though it used to hurt me. In the mean time we processed his K-1 Visa and soon got his Green card. By then he had passed his USMLE too. Thatýs when I started noticing lots of photographs of Nepali looking women in his emails along with the description of doctors, engineer, and computer programmer etc. After he received his green card, he started to change his attitude towards me (even though he never loved me) and he was no more the same Raja. Later on I came to know that his parents were looking for a wife for him and have been sending pictures of the potential brides. I do not know whether his parents knew about my existence or not, most probably not. He then filed for a divorce with me and said he was going to Nepal to get married to a young girl named Sangita, and I guess that is you.ý

ýYes, this is me Sangita, Mrs Raja. But, what you want from me? Whatýs the purpose you telling me all these things? Raja and me are happily married and what you want from us?ý Sangita said.

ýListen Sangita! I donýt what anything from you but I definitely want a favor from youý. The voice of a women on the other end of the telephone said. ýEven after, the divorce paper was filed; we kept staying together and continued having physical relations. I loved Raja and only I know the extent and depth of my love towards him and I wanted to bear a child of his. I had stopped taking the contraceptives, months before, without letting Raja know. And I did conceive with Rajaýs child before he left for Nepal to get married with you. Since then, itýs been five years that I heard or talked with Raja. I moved away from the Boston area to begin a new life as a single motherý.

ýThis canýt be true. Raja is my husband and he could not have done this to me. Even if, he has done something like this, he would have told me. We promised each other not to hide anything. This women on the other end of the phone is lying and wants to disrupt our conjugal blissý, I thought. ýWhy are you trying to tell me all these? And I donýt believe a word of yours. You can, no way, disturb our marriageý, Sangita told the women on the other end of the line quite angrily.

ýYou are right, Sangita, I no way wanted disturb Rajaýs and your life. But I am in a problem. I have been diagnosed with breast cancer.ý The voice on the other end of the line sobbed. And continued, ý I have only few months to live, the treatment options have been pretty much exhausted and the doctors have given up their hopes on treating me. The cancer has spread almost to all the lymph nodes and the lungs. Me, being a (single) mother, have tried my best to raise Rajya (yes I have named her after Raja) as a proud and self respecting individual as much as possible. I thought that if any body ever could give Rajya a better care, they would be you people. I know Sangita, you and Raja have a child too and know how a mother like you feels. Thatýs why I am requesting you to do this favor to me and Rajya, so that I can close my eyes in peace. You can go for a genetic testing if you donýt believe my story but pleaseýI do not want Rajya to be adopted by somebody else when her biological father is still around, even though the real father does not know about the existence of his own daughter. I would not have brought this up at any cost if the situations were not against me.ý The voice on the other end of the line started crying.

Sangita was mute and did not know what to say or doýý.

Good narration Shirish.
But have you watched "Masoom" and "Jab Pyar Kisi se hota hai?" (Salman khan with a child from his earlier girlfriend who dies).

Kiddo,

I have not watched the said movies nor I was influenced by them.

Did Salman Khan know he had a kid? Was the circumstances similar to my imagination?

That would be a mere coincidence.

regards

Shirish:
I respect your effort.But, no offence, your story is not any different from 1000 cheap hindi movies.Some American words like Donkin Donut,INS, and single mother don't make it unique.I am just giving you a neutral criticism.
DP.

Shirish dai, that was a touching story. I know of many ppl who marry for GreenCard and then dump the girl, its harsh and cruel but I guess some people will do anything for the "all imp. paper".

DP,

Thanks for your honest comment.

Tell me one thing...If in reality one of the characters was myself or if i told you the story of my own life, would you still consider it as a cheap Hindi movie story?

I guess sometimes things happen, the way it happens in the movies.

Meera,

thank you.

good story shrish...enjoyed it all!!!!

many things that happen in life happens in movies...y?? because movies are also influcened by living lives.., only its remixed a little..Life is a movie ...and thats y we enjoy movies :)

Shirish:
I just thought that an American single mom wouldn't hunt down a Nepali/Indian ex to take care of her kid.That might have happened, but it is very unrealistic.Yet, it is a story.Anything can happen in a story, right?
DP.

Unrealistic??

Y DP, i have seen Mexican Gals hunting down their WHITe ex and White Chix hunting down their Indian ex..

because you havent seen it and it didnt happene to u, u cannot say its unrealistic..no offense but i suggest u to look around the world u live in and talk :)

p.s i am not sayin this story is non- fiction...